Daily Current Affairs MCQ - September 7, 2021 - UPSC MCQ

The Centre has created a National Farmers’ Database with records of 5.5 crore farmers, which it hopes to increase to 8 crore farmers by December by linking it to State land record databases, according to Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

• Farmers’ database is key to advances in digital agriculture. Agriculture has to be linked with digital technology, scientific research and knowledge.
• The national database was created by taking data from existing national schemes such as PM-KISAN, soil health cards and the insurance scheme PM Fasal Bima Yojna. So far, 5.5 crore farmers had been identified in this manner.
• The Minister urged the States to create their own databases using the national database’s federated structure and also allow linkages to the land records maintained by the States.
• With the help of State governments, a total of eight crore farmers would be included by the end of the year. He also urged to study the Karnataka model for digital agriculture presented at the conference.
• In July, Mr. Tomar told the Lok Sabha that the database could be used “for targeted service delivery with higher efficiency and in a focussed and time-bound manner” and that it was the core for the proposed Agristack digital agriculture ecosystem.
• Already, companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Patanjali had been asked to develop technology solutions for farmers using data from the database.
• Activists have raised privacy and consent concerns about using farmers’ data in such a way.
• Hence only statement 1 is correct.

Chandigarh now has its first pollen calendar, which can identify potential allergy triggers and provide a clear understanding for clinicians as well as allergy sufferers about their causes to help limit their exposure during high pollen loads.

• About 20-30% of the population suffers from allergic rhinitis/hay fever in India, and approximately 15% develop asthma.
• Pollens are considered major outdoor airborne allergens responsible for allergic rhinitis, asthma, and atopic dermatitis in humans.
• Pollen calendars represent the time dynamics of airborne pollen taxa in graphical form in a particular geographical area. They yield readily accessible visual details about various airborne pollen taxa present throughout the year, with their seasonality in a single picture.
• Pollen calendars are location-specific, with concentrations closely related to locally distributed flora.
• Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh, examined the seasonal periodicities of airborne pollen spectrum and developed the first Pollen Calendar for Chandigarh city.
• Hence both statements are correct.

Indian Navy Task Group comprising IN Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt, under the Command of Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Fleet, Rear Admiral Tarun Sobti, VSM is participating in the 4th edition of AUSINDEX from 06 to 10 September 2021.

• Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Anzac Class Frigate, HMAS Warramunga which participated in Exercise MALABAR along with the IN units is also part of the exercise.
• This edition of AUSINDEX includes complex surface, sub-surface and air operations between ships, submarines, helicopters and Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft of the participating Navies.
• Commenced in 2015 as a bilateral IN-RAN maritime exercise, AUSINDEX has grown in complexity over the years and the 3rd edition of the exercise, held in 2019 in the Bay of Bengal, included anti-submarine drills for the first time.
• Hence only statement 1 is correct.

On September 2 eight of India’s major banks joined the Account Aggregator (AA) network that will enable customers to easily access and share their financial data.

• The framework, which has been under discussion since 2016 and in the testing phase for some time, will now be open to all customers.
• An Account Aggregator is a non-banking financial company engaged in the business of providing, under a contract, the service of retrieving or collecting financial information pertaining to its customer.
• It is also engaged in consolidating, organising and presenting such information to the customer or any other financial information user as may be specified by the bank.
• The licence for AAs is issued by the RBI, and the financial sector will have many AAs.
• The AA framework allows customers to avail various financial services from a host of providers on a single portal based on a consent method, under which the consumers can choose what financial data to share and with which entity.
• It reduces the need for individuals to wait in long bank queues, use Internet banking portals, share their passwords, or seek out physical notarisation to access and share their financial documents.

Hence only statement 2 is correct

In a first-of-its-kind effort, editors of more than 220 leading health journals from all over the world have published a joint editorial asking governments to take immediate and more ambitious climate action to hold global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5°C from pre-industrial times.

• The editors have urged governments to treat climate change with the same kind of urgency that was shown in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Climate change has several adverse health impacts, both direct and indirect.
• Heat-related diseases triggered by extreme heat events, which are on the rise because of changing climate, are an example of direct health impacts of climate change.
• Changing crop patterns, declining yields, water scarcity, and extreme precipitation are expected to have health consequences as well. Food shortages and resultant malnutrition are considered major side-effects of rising temperatures.
• The World Health Organization estimates that about 250,000 excess deaths are likely to be caused by climate change-induced factors — malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea, and heat stress — between 2030 and 2050.
• Higher temperatures have led to “increased dehydration and renal function loss, dermatological malignancies, tropical infections, adverse mental health outcomes, pregnancy complications, allergies, and cardiovascular and pulmonary morbidity and mortality”.
• Hence both statements are correct.

• Article 360 empowers the president to proclaim a Financial Emergency if he is satisfied that a situation has arisen due to which the financial stability or credit of India or any part of its territory is threatened. Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• A proclamation declaring financial emergency must be approved by both the Houses of Parliament within two months from the date of its issue.
  • Once approved by both the houses of Parliament, the Financial Emergency continues indefinitely till it is revoked. Hence, statement 2 is not correct.
• Effects of Financial Emergency:
  • Extension of the executive authority of the Union over the financial matters of the States.
  • Reduction of salaries and allowances of all or any class of persons serving in the State.
  • Reservation of all money bills or other financial bills for the consideration of the President after they are passed by the legislature of the State. Hence, statement 3 is correct.

• A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend.
  • Lending and borrowing are alternative services offered by cryptocurrencies.
• Investors can earn interest on their holdings of digital currencies - often a lot more than they could on cash deposits in a bank - or borrow with crypto as collateral to back a loan. Hence statement 1 is not correct.
  • By law, banks are required to have reserves to ensure that even if some loans go bad, customers can still withdraw funds, whereas crypto banks do not have the same reserve requirements and the institutions they lend to can take risky activities.
• Deposits are not guaranteed by the central bank’s backed Deposit Insurance Corp. Cyberattacks, extreme market conditions, or other operational or technical difficulties could lead to a temporary or permanent halt on withdrawals or transfers.
• Stablecoin are cryptocurrencies pegged to stable assets, commonly the dollar. They are meant to provide the steady value of government-issued money in digital form for blockchain transactions, but they are issued by private entities. Hence statement 2 is correct.

• Recently, the Prime Minister paid tribute to V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, the legendary freedom fighter on his 150^th birth anniversary.
  • He was popularly known as Kappalottiya Tamilan (The Tamil Helmsman) and Sekkizuththa Semmal (scholarly gentry who suffered at the oil press). Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• V. O. Chidambaram Pillai entered politics in 1905 following the partition of Bengal.
  • Towards the end of 1905, he visited Madras and was drawn closer to the Swadeshi Movement initiated by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Lala Lajpat Rai. Hence, statement 2 is correct.
  • He was drawn towards Ramakrishna Mission and came into contact with Subramania Bharati and the Mandayam family.
  • It was not until the arrival of V. O. Chidambaram Pillai at Tuticorin (Present day Thoothukudi) that the Swadeshi movement in Tirunelveli district began to gather force and momentum.
• By 1906, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai won the support of merchants and industrialists in Tuticorin and Tirunelveli for the idea of establishing a Swadeshi merchant shipping outfit by the name of the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company (SSNCo).
  • He established many institutions like Swadeshi Prachar Sabha, Dharmasanga Nesavu Salai, National Godown, Madras Agro-Industrial Society Ltd and Desabimana Sangam.
  • V. O. Chidambaram Pillai and Siva were aided in their efforts by a number of Tirunelveli-based lawyers, who formed an organisation called the Swadeshi Sangam, or ‘National Volunteers’.
  • The nationalist movement acquired a secondary character with the beginning of the Tuticorin Coral Mills strike (1908). Hence, statement 3 is correct.

Entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced that ‘Inspiration4’, its first all-civilian, non-governmental spaceflight, is on track for launch on September 15.

• The Crew Dragon spacecraft is set to be launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in the US. It will take a group of four private citizens into space for three days.
• The mission involves circling the Earth for three days, and then splashing down into the Atlantic Ocean.
• Inspiration4 will orbit the Earth at 575km, higher than the International Space Station (408km) and the Hubble space telescope (547km). This will be the farthest distance travelled by a crewed mission since 2009, when astronauts last went to repair the Hubble.
• Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.

The insolvency regulator has called for public comments on a proposal to introduce a code of conduct for Committees of Creditors (CoC), of companies undergoing insolvency proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

• Under the IBC, a CoC composed of financial creditors to the Corporate Debtor (CD) — or operational creditors in the absence of unrelated financial creditors — is empowered to take key decisions, including decisions on haircuts for creditors, that are binding on all stakeholders, including those dissenting.
• The CoC is also empowered to seek and choose the best resolution plan for a corporate debtor from the market, and its role is vital for a timely and successful resolution for a CD.
• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) noted that a code of conduct for CoCs would promote transparent and fair working on the part of CoCs.
• The IBBI noted several cases in which certain lenders have withdrawn funds from a CD undergoing insolvency proceedings and contributed to delays in the insolvency process.
• Delays in resolution are seen as contributing to loss of value in corporate debtors and have become a key criticism of the IBC, with over 75 per cent of ongoing insolvency proceedings having crossed the 270-day timeline.
• Hence both statements are correct.